Naoya Inoue is set to face Irish veteran TJ Doheny on Sept 3 in Tokyo

Irish southpaw TJ Doheny, currently enjoying an impressive run of form, is set to face an immense challenge when he goes up against the undisputed junior featherweight champion Naoya Inoue on September 3 at Ariake Arena in Tokyo.

Based in Australia, the 37-year-old Doheny was an unexpected IBF titleholder at 122 pounds after he outpointed Ryosuke Iwasa to claim the title at Tokyo’s Korakuen Hall in August 2018. He successfully defended his title once, stopping Ryohei Takahashi in 11 rounds the following January. However, his fairy tale seemed to come to an end during a unification bout with Daniel Roman three months later, where he survived two knockdowns but ultimately lost by majority decision.

Following consecutive decision losses to Ionut Baluta in March 2020 and Michael Conlan in August 2021, Doheny found himself at a crossroads. Another points defeat to rising contender Sam Goodman 14 months ago seemed to signal the end of Doheny’s time at the top level. Despite this, he has since bounced back with three consecutive wins in Tokyo, defeating Kazuki Nakajima in 11 rounds, stopping Japhethlee Llamido in one round, and most recently, taking out Bryl Bayogos in four rounds on the undercard of Inoue-Luis Nery in May.

Doheny’s popularity in Japan is likely one reason for this unexpected opportunity. His favorable position in the WBO rankings is another. Thanks to recent victories with the WBO Asia Pacific belt on the line, Doheny has risen to No. 2, just behind Goodman, who could be next for Inoue if he gets past Doheny. Goodman, Inoue's mandatory challenger, opted for an interim bout and suffered a hand injury in a July 10 victory over Chainoi Worawut.

Doheny is also ranked 9th by the WBC and 10th by the IBF. The Ring has placed him at eighth, and he is 10th with the Transnational Boxing Ratings Board.

This will be Doheny’s fifth outing in Japan, but to maintain his unbeaten run in the country, he’ll need to pull off one of the biggest upsets in boxing history against one of the sport's pound-for-pound best fighters.